What kind of financial advice can you get for $40?

So much for all those low-cost or free robo adviser offerings. Could the real solution to all your money problems come in the form of a $40 “financial literacy tool”?

That’s essentially the proposition behind Smart Planner, a tool created by Jonathan Pond, an author and television personality who focuses on personal finance and runs a Massachusetts-based advisory firm. The web-based platform had been previously marketed through PBS as an occasional pledge-drive gift. But it’s now being made available for the first time on an ongoing basis to the public at large — or at least to the public that’s willing to shell out 40 bucks for what Pond’s team promises will be a “tailored, confidential” report that “provides recommendations on retirement planning, insurance, debt and credit management, investment guidance, estate planning, saving for college, income taxes and wills.”

No face-to-face meetings — or even phone calls — are involved. The computer-generated report is created after users fill out a detailed questionnaire online and Smart Planner’s program, described by Pond as “astoundingly complex,” does its work making sense of the responses and then tying them to a series of recommendations.

From there, Smart Planner contacts users periodically by email, reminding them to stay on track with the recommendations. Beyond that, there’s no real “relationship,” though Pond encourages users to run the tool periodically — say, every year — as their financial circumstances change and evolve. (It costs another $40 for each use.)

Smart Planner’s target market is a broad one: The tool “was designed with everybody in mind,” whether you’re an individual “starting your first job and trying to get your bearings” or you’re one “trying to bounce back from a financial setback,” says the Smart Planner web site. Pond makes the case that those already working with a financial adviser might benefit from paying the $40 and running the tool, as some advisers deal only with investments and ignore other aspects of financial planning, from insurance to home financing.

Industry experts and competitors alike are greeting Smart Planner with more than a share of skepticism. Critics question how “personal” or thorough the advice delivered may be, since it’s indeed derived from an algorithm and doesn’t involve any direct contact with an adviser.

“I can’t say the value enough of having a real human on the other side,” says Stephany Kirkpatrick, a vice president of LearnVest, a financial planning company that works with clients by phone and email.

Smart Planner arrives at a time when the financial world is making a strong push to woo investors with automated platforms and products — hence, the term robo advisers — that are an affordable, if not free, alternative to such traditional advice delivery methods as paying an asset manager a percentage-based fee to oversee a portfolio or paying a planner a flat or hourly fee to put a fiscal roadmap in place.

In a sense, many of the new models are like Smart Planner in that they depend on algorithms. But in this case of robo advisers, the algorithms are used to design and monitor portfolios. Major names in the space include Betterment and Wealthfront, but Schwab
SCHW, -2.63%
and Vanguard are competing in it as well. (Schwab’s new offering, dubbed Intelligent Portfolios, debuted earlier this month. Vanguard’s platform, Personal Advisor Services, already manages $4.2 billion in assets.)

Smart Planner is different in that the investment aspect is only a small part of the plan that’s generated. Moreover, Smart Planner doesn’t handle the investments — or even suggest specific stock or bond funds to buy. Rather, the tool gives broad recommendations — say, what asset classes to hold in a portfolio.

Pond argues that the robo adviser platforms miss the point by focusing solely on asset management and ignoring the reality that investing is simply the vehicle to help one realize their goals within a financial plan. But it is not the plan itself, Pond says.

If anything, Pond sees his tool as a first step or a complement for those investors looking to sign up with a robo adviser platform. And for that reason, he’s looking into partnerships with the platforms. “The robo advisers are salivating over this,” he says.

But at least one platform provider — namely, Schwab — counters that it does offer planning services. Naureen Hassan, who heads the discount brokerage’s Intelligent Portfolios service, says customers are free to reach out by phone or visit their local Schwab branch for “some complimentary” assistance. “Planning is a fundamental component,” she says.

While Smart Planner has its critics, some see possible value in the tool. Sean McDermott, an analyst with Corporate Insight, a research firm that tracks the financial industry, says it’s hard to get many people to take that first step when it comes to investing, let alone broad-based planning. A $40 tool might help pave the way, he notes.

“Anything that lowers the barrier of entry is definitely a good thing,” says McDermott.

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